Thursday, September 22, 2011

Kobe Jones @ King St Wharf

As winter fades away, the days have become beautifully sunshiny warm. What better to celebrate spring than with friends, cocktails and an a beautiful harbour view? A couple of my girlfriends and I met at Kobe Jones for the Sentou set menu. It was a whopping 11 course meal and they arrived in 3 groups, the last being the dessert.

The Sentou set.Japanese Mojito. My friend ordered this and she had to wait until the food came out because it was very strong. It'll be alright for the nighttime though!The Kobe Jones Sunset - Suntory strawberry liqueur, Suntory mango liqueur built with cranberry juice, Absolut mandarin and pineapple juice. This one was like juice! I couldn't stop drinking this and couldn't taste the alcohol at all. It was sweet, refreshing and the hue, beautiful. I will definitely be having this one again.

The first wave of food! I think around 5 dishes came out at once. From the left - Number one special, Anago scallops, Hawaiian roll.

Wagyu Tenderloin Tataki. The ponzu sauce was rich with flavour and balanced out the meatiness well. The meat was soft and tender, yet slightly chewy and fun.

Anago Scallops - Tempura Hokkaido scallops stuffed with crab salad and asparagus, drizzled with a bittersweet soy sauce glaze. Cruncy on the outside, soft and full of flavour on the inside. This bitesized dish only stimulated our hunger even more. The fish roe added that bouncy pop and a bit of freshness to this dish.

Number one special - crab salad with avocado wrapped in Hiramasa kingfish and baked with our secret sauce. This same smokey cheesy melt on top comes out with the Volcano rolls. It's a ball of seafood wonder. As you first bite through the cheesy layer, you can taste the crabs, soft and plentiful, followed by the lovely avocado. All this, mixed with the melt, is simply beautiful.

The second wave. Chicken karaage, Alaskan crab, Vegetable tempura, Volcano roll. OMG we were already full by this stage.

With the Alaskan crab, they give you a bowl of lemon water to wash your fingers after you're done. The top of the shell is broken off for you. Mine came out in shreds but my friend managed to extract the entire filling as chunks. Nonetheless, they were fresh and tasty with a hint of sweetness.

They also made tempura out of eggplant and pumpkin. I personally don't like eggplant that much but this tempura was quite yummy and the batter was thin yet crunchy. It covered the eggplant thoroughly and stayed on in between bites. The pumpkin was sweet.

The Chicken Karaage coating was crunchy and well seasoned. I think they overcooked the chicken a bit because with some pieces, I had a bit of trouble biting it off because it was too tough. The chili mayonnaise wasn't really chili but still had that extra flavour that blended well with the karaage.

Oh and the volcano roll! Oven baked scallops layered on a crab salad and avocado roll with our special cream sauce and a sesame seed and shallot sprinkle. Their special cream sauce is just divine and with the softness of the crab salad and avocado, the combination of flavours just melt in your mouth. Everything is soft and wonderful. You just want to pop the entire roll inside your mouth and chew, chew, and chew it, savouring the flavours entirely.

The last of the main meal - Wagyu hot rock. We get to cook our wagyu as we like it on this hot stone. First you rub the surface with a bit of fat to oil it, then you cook the beef! Simple and fun. They give you two sauces - garlic and soy (?), and salt&pepper seasoning. I preferred the salt & pepper to the other ones as they accentuated the deep flavours of the wagyu. We couldn't finish this one because we were wayyyyyyyyy too full from the other 9 courses!

Dessert time! This is the green tea tiramisu. It was extremely hard so we had to chisel it into little pieces. They had more cream than biscuits but I thought it was quite nice. Only if I weren't so full. It didn't really taste like green tea though except the green tea dusting on top.

Green tea brulee! We couldn't put our spoons down for this one. I love creme brulees and their caramelized surfaces. I love breaking it with my spoon and losing myself in that mixture of crunchy sweetness and soft filling. As you can see, it's quite big but that didn't stop us from finishing it. At the bottom are red bean which adds an extra Oriental sweetness to the dish.

Overall our lunch went for over 2 hours. We didn't even notice the time go by because we were so engrossed in our meal and conversations. The waterfront view was also beautiful and the cool breeze was a constant reminder of this marvelous day. None of us had dinner that night though and struggled to walk even 3 steps. This set is strongly recommended but only if you have 3+ people and preferably, someone who eats a lot and I mean A LOT. The cocktails are a must or if you'd rather something simple, a glass of wine. They also have a lunch special - All you can eat sushi for $29.90 Mon-Wed and Lunch Specials for $25 Mon-Fri. I''ll have to come back to try these two!

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About Me

What a dull world it would be without food. This is the blog of one very hungry med student, with a goal to conquer every culinary delight and to keep myself fed and happy. You know you've had a good meal if you walk out with a food baby :)